I love a good antique machine, especially when the price is amazing, but sometimes finding the accessories that fit is difficult or super pricey. This summer I found a Craftsman Wood Lathe, from around the 1950s, for $125 on Craigslist. It is beautiful, came on its own stand with well crafted drawers, complete with caster wheels, motor, a few accessories and a set of turning tools. Such a steal!
I began a small practice turn piece and realized I was going to need a smaller tool rest. The one that came with the lathe is 12” long and I was trying to turn a short piece of wood, to not a very large diameter. I could not get the tool rest close enough to the piece because it was hitting the headstock and tailstock. The post hole on this antique lathe is ⅞” which is not a common post size these days. You can find them, but the price jumps astronomically. I found that Nova sells their tool rests separate from the posts, so you can mix and match to the right sizes of both that you need. I can’t remember if Nova had a post that was ⅞” or not but I do remember that no matter where I looked, the price was more than I was willing to pay. I ordered a 4” tool rest from Nova and set out to find the right size metal stock to make my own post for my new tool rest.
I am pleased with how it turned out and now I can buy any size tool rest I may need from Nova and then just screw it down onto my DIY post. I hope this might help someone else in the same pickle I found myself.
Thanks for checking out my post!